He
beat the odds and lived longer than the world of medicine expected. As a
child he participated in a research project that has helped children
born with cancer have better lives. He fought hard against the diseases
that stalked him. But Wars' fight ended on 2/9/2013.

His in game
greeting was always "WARS!!" He was willing to help other players do a
raid, camp a mob, get experience points, or farm for trade skill
ingredients. His home in EQ was a castle and was featured in the
Norrathian Home Show.

He did not just play EQ and EQII - he was
involved in making the game better; volunteering to serve on the
Community Round Table and he helped beta test several expansions. At a
Fan Fair, he was part of a group that suggested explaining Fippy
Darkpaw's suicidal run.

Always soft spoken but outgoing, he met
everyone as a friend. He also loved pictures - he really enjoyed posing
with the Firiona Vie models and all of his friends.

When the
doctors told him that he only had weeks to live, in typical Wars
fashion, he looked for a way to reach out and help others. Having had a
lifetime of transfusions, he knew that a pint of blood could make life
better. In lieu of flowers, he asked his friends and family to donate
blood at the American Red Cross. Those of us who are his friends are
calling on the gaming community to join the drive.

If giving at
the American Red Cross, please ask the American Red Cross for a card and
write that you are giving for "EQ-WARS!". Those cards will be directed
to his family. If you prefer to donate directly to a local community
blood bank or cancer center, that is good too. No matter the venue, if
you donate blood in Wars' honor, please send an email to eqwarsblooddrive@gmail.com with the state in which you donated. His family will be kept informed about the number donations reported to the email address.

Feel
free to spread the word about this virtual blood drive to your guild
and any gamer friends. Let's make the expression "going viral" mean
something good!

In game he chose to be warrior; in real life he
showed grace, courage and nobility while facing a really big boss mob.
Whether you personally played with Wars, met him at a Sony Online
Entertainment (SOE) gathering, or just want to help, please consider
donating blood to help us build a positive living legacy in honor and
celebration of a gentle giant who called himself WARS!!

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

SOE has announced plans for the 14th Anniversary celebration and for part two of RoF: "Shadows of Fear".

The 14th Anniversary will begin March 16 and will bring back all the old anniversary quests and have new ones. Included will be some 2012 SOE Live player created quests.

Also, the Epic Weapon Ornamentation quests will finally go live for the anniversary. If you have an epic weapon, you can do quests to get an ornamentation to make your current weapon look like your epic.

We knew that there were pieces missing from Rain of Fear. Well, they are scheduled to arrive in April and are entitled "Shadows of Fear". It will be free for all those who purchased Rain of Fear.

Friday, February 22, 2013

In a thread on the SOE forum, player Axxius goes over the signs that more Rain of Fear content (tiers 3 and maybe 4) are on the way:

The facts:

1. RoF was released Nov 28. There were 3 portals in SL with nothing but
the base, and the NPCs at them saying that they were building them. The
big shard in the middle was askew and not really big.
2. Exactly 30 days later, on Dec 28, the 3 portals became 1/3 built, the
NPCs near them started giving hints about their destinations, the big
shard became bigger and vertical, and a new NPC appeared near it talking
about the Heart of Fear.
3. Exactly 30 days later, on Jan 27, the 3 portals became 2/3 built and
gained emotes for trying to enter them, the big shard became even bigger
and also gained an emote for clicking on its supports.
4. Feb 26 is 30 days after Jan 27. (what? it IS a fact! )
5. In the podcast after the release of RoF SOE producer mentioned that
there will be additional content releases between the expansions.
6. RoF T2 contents ends in a mystery: an entity named Lupex steals the
fear shard that was used by King Xorbb and disappears. The lore text
suggests that we will soon meet Lupex again. King Xorbb doesn't have any
of the endboss attributes, that whole ordeal was just a story of 2
halfings getting into something much bigger than they intended. The main
storyline of the expansion (assembling the crystallized essence of Fear
to bring back Cazic-Thule) remains unresolved.
7. The main artwork for RoF depicts Terris Thule, Morell Thule, Brell
and Tunare fighting against an army of what appears to be Alarans in a
place that looks similar to Plane of Fear. None of the content of the T1
or T2 zones relates to that in any way. None of those 4 gods appear in
T1 or T2.
8. Multiple SOE devs mentioned on twitter/facebook that they are working
on new zones. When asked about letting players test it, the answer was
'we'll consider it'.
9. EQ client supports 5 new zones that are not patched in yet (1 of them
was patched to Beta near the end of RoF beta testing): Chelsith Reborn,
Plane of Shadow, Plane of Mischief (new), The Heart of Fear, and Burned
Woods. The first 4 of them are perfect match for the destinations
suggested by the NPCs at the incomplete portals and the big shard.
10. Shard's Landing uses Terris Thule, Shissar Emperor and some other models that currently do not spawn there.
11. New focuses higher than T2 and new spells with names and
descriptions suggesting new boss fights have been added in the last
patch.

The speculation:

1. New content is most definitely coming.
2. There will be tier(s) higher than T2.
3. Portals to at least 3 new zones should open on Feb 26.

SOE declined to comment at this time. They often don't like to announce things until they are "ready".

I do consider it highly unlikely the new zones will open on February 26. I expect it to be March at the very earliest and more likely May (March and April are usually busy with anniversary stuff).

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

All 2h weapons that are usable by berserkers will be retuned to the
correct ratios for their tiers. Obviously T2 weapons will be better than
tier 1. Here's a list of the weapons that are changing. Although some
of these are slower than a berserker would want to use, these will all
be adjusted up.

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

All
EverQuest Live Servers will be brought offline on Wednesday, February
13, 2013 at 4:00 am US Pacific* for a Game Update. The servers are
estimated to be unavailable for approximately 4 hours. Keep an eye on
the EverQuest website and the forums for status updates and for news if
additional downtime is needed.